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Rubia Packard
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) Goals
CIWMB is pursuing two significant goals:
- 1st: Reduce the amount of waste disposed in landfills by 50 percent.
- 2nd: Promote environmentally safe land disposal for those wastes that cannot be
recycled, composted, or reused.
By the End of 2000:
- CIWMB will be reporting on California’s success in reaching the 50 percent diversion
goal.
- CIWMB plans to provide a report card on how the other 50 percent of the waste is being
managed in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills.
To Develop a True Picture of Landfill Performance:
- Need to fully comprehend the current status of MSW landfill performance across the
environmental media of air, water, and gas.
- Need to understand short and long-term environmental impacts that may result.
The Challenge
- The regulation of California’s MSW landfills is primarily shared among three state
agencies:
- State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)/Regional Water Quality Control Boards
(RWQCB): Water quality aspects
- California Air Resources Board (CARB)/Air Districts: Air quality aspects
- CIWMB/Local Enforcement Agencies (LEA): All other areas
- No one entity has a complete picture of landfill performance across all media,
including:
- Current status of their performance.
- Comprehensive assessment of impacts that may occur.
- Regulatory assessment to see if regulations are effective in protecting the environment.
- CIWMB submitted a budget change proposal for FY 1999-2000 to fund a multiyear contracted
study on landfill performance across the multimedia impacts of air, water, and gas.
- The Legislature agreed and approved funding for the multiyear contracted study.
- The study is the first of its kind in California to take a comprehensive look at MSW
landfill performance across air, water, and gas.
- In June 2000, the CIWMB contracted with GeoSyntec Consultants to conduct the study,
which will end May 2002.
Cross Media Team
- In keeping with the cross media approach, the CIWMB is relying on a cross media team.
- The purpose of the team is to provide a comprehensive perspective:
- In development of the scope of work.
- In selection of the contractor.
- In review of all deliverables.
- All deliverables from the study will be reviewed by the team, which will consist of
representatives from the following:
- CIWMB and LEAs
- SWRCB and RWQCBs
- CARB
Joint Legislative Audit Committee
- The timing of the CIWMB’s study cannot come too soon.
- In March 2000, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee ordered an audit of the oversight
roles of state and local agencies with regards to landfill expansions.
- The audit is similar to the CIWMB’s landfill study except its focus is limited to the
environmental impacts that may result from landfill expansions.
- The Bureau of State Audits is conducting the audit.
- Phase I: Comprehensive inventory of more than 240 active and inactive MSW landfills
using information obtained from various regulatory agencies and landfill owners/operators.
- Phase II: Regulatory assessment of approximately 50 MSW landfills to understand every
aspect of the regulation and their effect on landfill performance.
Phase I
- Will take approximately 12 months.
- Will look at all MSW landfills (~240) that accepted waste since October 9, 1993.
- Will look at:
- Physical aspects, the setting, unique attributes.
- Environmental protections systems in place.
- Compliance with environmental requirements.
- An important objective of the study is to have a complete picture of landfill
performance today.
- Emphasis is on the collection of data firsthand from regulators’ and operators’
files.
- The responsibility to collect information rests with GeoSyntec.
- The role of LEAs is limited to providing access to records and any clarification if
needed.
- In June, the CIWMB sent a letter with an attached copy of the scope of work to the LEAs
advising them of the pending study and requesting a contact to assist GeoSyntec with
general orientation questions.
Phase II
- Will take approximately 12 months.
- Will look more in depth at 40 of the 240 MSW landfills plus 10 additional landfills that
closed prior to 1993.
- Will look at design, construction, operation, and compliance history.
- Will assess current regulatory requirements to determine if the regulations are really
effective in protecting the environment for both the short and long terms.
- Will evaluate other states’ and countries’ MSW landfill regulations and recommend
possible improvements to California’s program.
- Will identify emerging technologies that if applied in California could possibly improve
the operation of California’s MSW landfills.
- The responsibility to collect information for the Phase II portion of the study rests
with GeoSyntec.
- The role of LEAs is limited to providing access to records and any clarification if
needed, and answering questions on a specific landfill’s performance for a select number
of landfills.
Study Deliverables
Phase I
- Checklist of pertinent environmental regulatory requirements, listing each requirement,
who enforces, and the media affected.
- Inventory data of MSW landfills
- A one-time snapshot of landfill performance.
- Information gathered will be available to the public.
- Phase I report that presents:
- The landfill data collected.
- The results of the assessment.
- Recommendations on the 40+ MSW landfills that should be included in the Phase II
assessment.
Phase II
- Detailed data collected on the 40+ landfills and the 10 MSW landfills that closed prior
to 1993.
- Phase II report that presents the data collected, the results of the assessment, and any
conclusions that are drawn.
- Information on selected states and countries and evaluation of MSW landfill regulations
that, if applied in California, could possibly improve multimedia regulation.
- Findings on emerging technologies that if applied in California could possibly improve
the operation of MSW landfills.
Final Report
- Presents comprehensive findings on the regulation and compliance of MSW landfills in
California.
- Recommends improvements or enhancements to California’s multimedia regulation of MSW
landfills that will result in greater environmental performance.
- Includes the identification of indicators that could be used to track ongoing
environmental performance for possible inclusion in a single statewide database system.
- Includes a brief overview of Class II landfills that do not receive MSW in order to
advise the reader of another set of landfills that will not be addressed by the study.
Questions?
Please contact Bobbie Garcia
(916) 341-6291
bgarcia@ciwmb.ca.gov
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